NSA releases single Snowden e-mail

May 29, 2014
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Edward Snowden / Associated Press

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

The National Security Agency said Thursday that Edward Snowden sent supervisors only one e-mail when he worked there, and it did not protest the nature of NSA surveillance programs.

Snowden, the former NSA systems administrator whose leaks have exposed some of the agency's most sensitive spying operations, responded from Moscow that "today's release is incomplete.''

Responding to questions from The Washington Post, the newspaper reported, Snowden cited "correspondence with the (NSA's) Signals Intelligence Directorate's Office of Compliance'' as well as concerns expressed to colleagues and management at the agency.

"Ultimately, whether my disclosures were justified does not depend on whether I raised these concerns previously,'' Snowden said. "...Still, the fact is that I did raise such concerns both verbally and in writing, and on multiple, continuing occasions.''

"There are numerous avenues that Mr. Snowden could have used to raise other concerns or whistleblower allegations," the NSA said in a statement. "We have searched for additional indications of outreach from him in those areas and to date have not discovered any engagements related to his claims."

In an interview with NBC News, Snowden said he told the NSA about his concerns about its widespread methods of intelligence gathering.

"I actually did go through channels, and that is documented," Snowden said. "The NSA has records, they have copies of emails right now to their Office of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks, from me raising concerns about the NSA's interpretations of its legal authorities. â?¦ The response more or less, in bureaucratic language, was, 'You should stop asking questions.'"

Snowden - who remains in Russia, which has granted him temporary asylum - faces espionage charges in the United States.